Injuries in Life

This past weekend we spent some time talking about the injuries and wounds in our life. We know that there are some people who still want to deny that their wounds are a problem in their life. But by ignoring them it doesn’t make them go away, it only makes it worse. The five strategies for dealing with injury that were outlined in the message were:

1.) Go to the cross

2.) Name and identify your injuries

3.) Don’t let your injury keep you away from the team

4.) Practice forgiveness and the art of letting go

5.) Run the race that God has put before you

For the first time on this blog space we have a guest author. She has spent some time reflecting on the subject of injury and her perspective may be of help to many. Her name is Laura Rath and she blogs at http://www.laurarath.blogspot.com/ Please go and check her out as she leads an online study for women.

“When an Injury Changes our Path in Life” by Laura Rath

“And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” Hebrews 12:1b-2a NLT

Some compare life to a race, with the focus on the finish line; or a game, with the focus on the win. Whether it’s a race or a game, there is the risk of injury. Some injuries take the athlete out for a short time, some for the season, and still others change the course completely.

What do we do when an injury, whether physical or emotional, changes the path our life was on? How do we adjust our hopes and expectations of how we thought life would turn out, to the reality of how it is?

Disappointment and pain, both physical and emotional, can cause us to turn to God, or away from God.

If we let the pain, emotion, and anger build up, we are in danger of turning away from God. The enemy loves this, and he will do anything he can to make us think God doesn’t care. Once we start down this path of anger, it will consume us. It becomes hard to let it go and turn back.

However, in our pain and disappointment, we can draw near God and let Him comfort us. He wants that relationship with us. One in which we can tell Him everything in our hearts and on our minds. One where we can express to Him our frustration and confusion. And one where He can guide us in a new direction, possibly one we never imagined possible.

Still, the change in course can be hard to accept. What do we do? We can go to God and ask Him for help. He knows what we need and what we want, but He wants us to ask for His help. If we don’t ask, how will we recognize the help He blesses us with? Asking for help humbles us. Maybe that’s why we don’t like to ask other people for help. We should be able to do it all ourselves, or at least that’s the message from society.

That’s not what God says, though. When we ask God for help, we remember that we can’t do it all ourselves. He doesn’t expect us to. We remember that it’s not all about us. God has a greater plan for each of us, and the course correction that we’re experiencing just might be part of the plan. No, it’s not a plan to make us sad or to bring us pain, but to make us who God knows we can be. He sees past who we are now, to who He knows we can become.